Jase

Couple of pics. No traditional open..he just went straight to the news of the day. The studio/set appears to be just off the CNBC newsroom. Also worth noting is that the set doesn’t match the renderings, so maybe this is a temporary setup??
 

Shepard Smith on launching a new ‘just-the-facts’ CNBC newscast

3 hours ago, MorningNews said:

So is David’s role solely to anchor WNT AND 20/20? George led this morning coverage of RBG’s service and Tom Llamas is anchoring the Breyona Taylor special coverage this afternoon. Lester is on NBC.

Well..it could be a # of things (i.e..he could be off today, traveling to KY to anchor coverage from there or simply unavailable for whatever reason). Services for Justice Ginsburg would fall under George’s purview (if I’m not mistaken).

Like Fox 29 (Philly), WFLD will have it’s own ‘Props and Locks’/FOXBet sports betting show (Sundays at 10A) followed by an abbreviated ‘Fox Kickoff Sunday’.  Also worth noting is that ‘The Final Word’ is no more and has been renamed/rebooted as ‘Sports Zone’. 
 

3 hours ago, MorningNews said:

Nice. So the desk will be moved back and forth for election coverage?

Ideally, it would only need to move for election night. My question is who said let’s add some wood effects to the video panels. That looks horrible.

28 minutes ago, Spring Rubber said:

I was wondering why the national Fox outlet was talking a feed from WBBM, but then I saw the mic flags. Looks like everyone else in town was there, but WFLD is nowhere to be found. 

They were there. Not sure why FNC didn’t take their feed/coverage.

On 8/31/2020 at 12:21 AM, 24994J said:

Just heard an ad on WGN Radio for a new show premiering on WGN9 called 'Chicago Football Weekly.' It'll air Saturday nights at 6pm. Didn't catch the launch date, and don't know the run time or hosts, but it'll displace the first portion of the 3-hour, themed 'Friends' block.

via Feder...

18 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

A bit awkward about the missing comments from Rob and Irika though, but I hope that doesn't mean any hard feelings between any of them, with regards to the tumultuous circumstances at the station. 

I can understand Rob wanting to leave the past in the past and not comment, but Irika not saying anything is surprising. Things are likely tough for everyone at WBBM and people tend to rallying together for support during times like this.

Granted, none of us know how things are there, but the fact Irika couldn’t manage a kind word or two about Brad is sad.

Ray Cortopassi to replace Joe Donlon as main news anchor

1 hour ago, Bill from Maspeth said:

 

IMO there seems to be a revolving door of the news team over there lately.  Poor working conditions?  Pain in the ass bosses?  Poor pay where the pay is better elsewhere when contracts expire?

Yes, it’s unusual for a station (WMAQ) to make changes to every newscast without firings being involved. That said, there is 0 reasons to believe anything you suggested was involved in the decision-making process.

9 minutes ago, SnellKrell said:

Chicago is a step down it's Market #3.

 

Chicago, of course, isn't a dump!

 

His parents live in the NY area - which leads me to  believe a friend's speculation

that the move isn't his choice.

 

 

We are going to have to agree to disagree on this. Not everyone wants to work in NYC, LA, etc... and many can be very successful in smaller markets. Reportedly, the highest paid local meteorologist and sportscaster both work in Chicago.

4 hours ago, 24994J said:

Robb Ellis has effectively replaced Megan, though without a formal announcement, and McGill has been on weekend evenings. If the rumors prove true, and Mary Kay leaves, Tammie could could slide in seamlessly.

Hopefully Tammie sticks around longer than 2-3 yrs..

Could it be that Stefan wanted to return to the city he was born and raised in and nothing more? Chicago isn’t a step down or some dump. 

28 minutes ago, MorningNews said:

Is the NBC election set housed in Studio 1A? 

Yes.

On 8/4/2020 at 5:38 PM, iron_lion said:

We're about a year into Norah as chief/evening anchor. Has she grown on you all or you think CBS News got it wrong? How would you say she compares to Katie Couric?

 

 

Norah just isn’t the right fit as anchor of CEN. And if anyone has any common sense at CBS, they should give Jeff another shot at it in 2024 (if he hasn’t left by then). 

3 hours ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

I remembered the facts incorrectly. George is Chief Anchor at ABC.

 

I know that WNT is riding strong, but there are fewer viewers. For instance, being #1 when you there are only 100K viewers isn't as impressive as is being #1 when there are 1 million. Just sayin'...

With all due respect, I have no clue where you’re getting your #s from. People have been talking about the imminent death of broadcast network news for years. They aren’t going anywhere.

2 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

I also watched the newscast and everything went pretty standard/well, however you want to say it, all the way up until their last segment with the Blackhawks interview, and that handover to the 5 -- that was a huge blunder, especially when Dawn thought there was a commercial in between the two. Ah well. 

 

I recall reading Tia was supposed to be reporting from "studio 32" so I'd hope she can move soon into that location where Anita/Scott are in that promo posted a few weeks ago. Putting her streetside is a little too noisy, especially if she's going to do live interviews via Zoom/Skype, like she did today.

 

--Edited to add that WFLD's evening opens feel like nothing (when compared to some of those at the sister stations) and the 4PM open was merely about 1 second long, and felt like even more of a bore. I know most don't bother, but..... eh.

They made similar mistakes last night (wrong video, dead air, etc..). I get things happen, but good grief, get it together.

I agree they made it seem like Tia would be reporting from Studio 32. I know they were making some last minute touches to the studio so maybe they weren’t done with that and couldn’t use it fully.

I hate their evening opens (or lack there of). They made a new one for the 9P, but hardly ever use it for some reason. 

Couple of quick shots of ‘First at Four’. Nothing groundbreaking here, but another news option at 4 is a bonus (I guess). 
 

The transition to the 5P newscast was very sloppy and whoever is running things in the control room should be fired. Way too many mistakes are being made. 

Also, they need to decide if they are going to call the helicopter ‘SkyFox’ or ‘AirFox’.  Can’t seem to make up their mind.

24 minutes ago, Spring Rubber said:

Wow, never thought I'd see them go with a solo-anchored weekday morning newscast. I always figured that would be a thing that could only be seen at WBBM. 

Unless pay cuts are also tied together with this, none of these moves make much sense. Why demote Alex??? If they wanted to introduce solo-anchored formats/newscasts, they could have easily done it without so much upheaval.

53 minutes ago, TSSZNews said:

In fairness, if News Nation stumbles out of the gate, given all they've invested into the operation and the current operating climate in general, there's no guarantee they don't "pivot" to the current cable news style others employ.

I don’t think they will abandon their commitment to being an unbiased news source if they’re not a success year 1, 5, 10, etc.. Plus, yours, mine and their standard of ‘success’ is no doubt very different.

As far as investment, it isn’t as great as it may seem. WGN America already exists along with a reach of 75 mil. and the Nexstar stations will carry most of the workload. In essence, operationally, it’s just taking on a additional station and building upon what’s already there for Nexstar.

5 hours ago, iron_lion said:

While I agree that flat-out calling out the truth is important, I hope the idea that that journalists should try to minimize their personal biases in reporting isn't lost. This especially so that the public can get raw clean information to then create their own well informed personal opinions.

This is why I’m hoping News Nation (WGN America) is successful. Having an unbiased news source (which they plan to be) is key in shifting thing towards unbiased news coverage overall. 
 

Granted, this is wishful thinking, but hopefully, things won’t get any worse than they already are.

Andy’s bio is missing. Could his retirement be imminent???

Couple of quick shots of NBC Sports Chicago’s new studio in action... It’s super weird watching tonight’s game with no fans. 

2 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

In other news, CBS 2 is also hiring a per-diem/freelance meteorologist after laying off Megan Glaros two months ago. Maybe they'll reduce their usage of Tim McGill?

Why not just give the job to Tim given he’s already per-diem? There’s definitely something going on in the weather dept. 

They have plenty of people to sub for Irika, so that shouldn’t be an issue. It’s just the matter of deciding between doing musical chairs for 3 months or moving Suzanne, Audrina or even Dana to weeknights for the duration.

I wouldn’t say either of them are social justice warriors (I dislike that term/label greatly). 

Any journalist will tell you that it’s a difficult job balancing the realities of the world in which we live and maintaining the basic tenets of journalism. I haven’t seen anything from Tia or Sally that would suggest they have some type of agenda, are biased, etc..

17 hours ago, Spring Rubber said:

Who even is the weekend crew now that the weekend crew has become the 4pm crew?

As 24994J said, Elizabeth (who is currently pregnant, due Jan 21’), subs for Natalie on Fridays & Tia subs on Saturdays. 

If this lineup is correct, someone would have to cover GDC Weekends and Saturday night after Aug. 3. If Natalie is re-teamed with Anthony and Sally goes back to GDC Weekends, then just Saturday night needs to be covered. 
 

It’s a confusing mess I know....